Saving for Nursing School

Kaitlyn DeVries is in her senior year of Nursing School at IUSB. She worked with Jessica George, IDA Counselor for LaCasa.

“I knew LaCasa helped the community,” Kaitlyn said, “but I thought it was just mortgages and that kind of thing. Then I heard from a friend who had an IDA here, and used it to pay for books and a laptop. That was probably 5 years before I came in myself.

“I looked online to learn more and find the information I needed. I could find all the documents that I would need to bring, so I gathered them up and came in to see what I needed to do next. The people at LaCasa were surprised that I had brought everything that was needed to proceed with setting up an IDA, because they never had anyone do that before.

“Some IDAs were available at that moment, so they took me in right away.”

When asked about her experience with LaCasa, Kaitlyn said, “I was impressed with Money4Life. The information you get there is really beneficial. I remembered some of those things from school, but it’s always good to hear them again, and it’s good to learn new information. I wish more people in the community would take advantage of it.”

Looking back on her experience, she reflected, “When I was taking pre-requisites for Nursing, it was easier to hold down a job and still attend classes. I worked three days and went to classes the other two days. But in Nursing School, with the time commitment and academic level required, you can’t work as many hours without sacrificing between work and your studies. Using the IDA to pay for tuition helped me to keep my grades up.”

Kaitlyn summed up by saying, “It seemed like this IDA was meant to be. Now I’m curious about ways to give back.”